Dead Ringer

About Dead Ringer

Dead Ringer is a 1981 album by Meat Loaf and is the second of his four albums written entirely by Jim Steinman. The album cover was designed by comic book artist and horror illustrator Bernie Wrightson. Steinman started to work on Bad for Good, the album that was supposed to be the follow-up to 1977's Bat Out of Hell, in 1978. During that time, a combination of touring, drugs and exhaustion had caused Meat Loaf to lose his voice. Without a singer, and pressured by the record company, Steinman decided that he should sing on Bad for Good himself, and write a new album for Meat Loaf. This album was Dead Ringer, which was later released in 1981, after the release of Bad for Good. After playing the role of Travis Redfish in the movie Roadie (which had cameos by Debbie Harry, Roy Orbison and Hank Williams, Jr., but was still a box office flop), Meat Loaf got his voice back, got off drugs, played softball, and started to work on his new album in 1980. Steinman had written five new songs which, in addition to the track "More Than You Deserve" (which Meat Loaf had sung in the musical with the same name) and a reworked monologue, formed the album Dead Ringer. The album was produced by Meat Loaf and Stephan Galfas, with backing tracks produced by Jimmy Iovine and Steinman. In 1976, Meat Loaf appeared on the track "Keeper Keep Us" from the Intergalactic Touring Band's self-titled album, which was produced by Galfas. Four singles were released from Dead Ringer: "Dead Ringer for Love" (featuring Cher), "I'm Gonna Love Her for Both of Us", "Read 'Em and Weep" and "Peel Out". The album reached number 1 in the UK. The tour for this album also marked the beginning of his long-running collaboration with pianist Paul Jacobs, as both sideman and songwriter more »